The forum, oganised as part of efforts to scale up rewilding in northern Portugal’s Greater Côa Valley, was the first step in developing a network of local, rewilding-related businesses.
Members of the LIFE project “Club de Fincas por la Conservación del Oeste Ibérico”, including many employees of Rewilding Europe partner Associação Transumância e Natureza, came together late last year in the Western Iberia rewilding area to learn how to build nesting platforms. Encouraging birds to nest in protected areas such as this will help endangered local species such as vultures, eagles and storks.
This October, a group of volunteers from the Associação Transumância e Natureza (ATN), partner of Rewilding Europe in Western Iberia, participated in a work camp where they recovered a ruined house in Ribeira do Mosteiro nature reserve. The restoration of the property will continue and once finished, ATN will use the house for their various activities.
The dramatic landscape of Western Iberia in Portugal where the Côa river is carving its deep path through the mountains is home to a vast variety of wildlife. Animal species of all sizes, shapes and colors inhabit land, skies and waters of the Côa Valley, however a great number of them are hard to spot. Anyone can see large herbivores from afar, but many other species are only visible through lenses of wildlife cameras – the invisible eyes in the wild.
Born and raised in a small village among the mountain ranges of central Portugal, Pedro’s interest in the natural world began at an early age. Over time, what started as a child’s natural curiosity turned into a serious academic pursuit as Pedro, after experimenting with different pathways in his early student days, eventually graduated from the University of Lisbon with a Master of Science in Biology.
The celebration of the 15th anniversary of Associação Transumância e Natureza (ATN) on 12–14 June marked the great progress made with rewilding of the Côa Valley in the Portuguese part of the Western Iberia rewilding area. During the event, the Faia Brava Star Camp pre-launch took place to show the visitors an accommodation unique and new for Europe.
Spring is arising in Western Iberia rewilding area with spectacular scenery and beauty to be witnessed and enjoyed, as almond trees bloom creating a white coat that covers the steep slopes of the Côa valley.
The Faia Brava Reserve, on the Portuguese side of the Western Iberia rewilding area, offers some of the best vulture watching opportunities in Europe. The newly opened Vulture hide here offers to the visitor fantastic opportunities to see and enjoy these huge raptors at point-blank range.
At the end of January, a female Maronesa cow was born in the Faia Brava Reserve, one of the Rewilding Europe core areas in Western Iberia. Totally, there are now 10 Maronesa individuals living in a semi-wild way at Faia Brava.
The first edition of the Erasmus Intensive Programme “European Wilderness Entrepreneurship” was a great success for the Western Iberia rewilding area. During this two week event a consortium of thirty students and fifteen lecturers/researchers from universities in Bulgaria, Croatia, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the Netherlands looked at the role of entrepreneurship to promote the future wilderness of Western Iberia.